Yuanwang 3 started sail in support for Chang'e 5 sample return mission
20 November 2020
China's 2nd-generation space tracking ship Yuanwang 3 left port on 19 November for missions concerning the Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission, according to sources with the country's satellite maritime tracking and controlling department.
The Chang'e 5's mission task is to bring approx. 2 kg of Moon samples back to Earth, making it one of China's most complicated and challenging space explorations. Yuanwang 3 mainly undertakes maritime tracking and monitoring tasks of high-, medium- and low-orbit satellites, spacecraft and space stations.
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5th of 5 for 5 - Fuelling of Long March 5 started
23 November 2020
Fuelling of the Long March 5 for launching the Chang'e 5 mission (Y5 = 5th launch of CZ-5) started in the early evening of 23 November - at around 18:30 h BJT. The launch is scheduled for the very early morning hours on 24 November BJT. ESA reported that they prepare for a launch at 21:35 CET on 23 November, providing support for critical mission phases - during launch and upon return "around" 15 December when preparing for the skip re-entry.
The launch will make a nice play with figures, since the 5th flight of the Long March 5 will launch the 5th Chinese lunar mission. Sounds like 5 is a lucky number. ;-) Much success!
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it might be that CGTN will provide live coverage of the launch
China launched its 1st lunar sample return mission
24 November 2020
The Long March-5 Y5, China's state-of-the-art carrier rocket and strongest member of the Long March launch vehicle family, took off at 4:30 BJT in the early morning of the 24 November BJT from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre located in South China's Hainan Province, successfully sending the Chang'e-5 lunar probe into planned orbit. About 2,200 seconds after lift-off, the Chang'e-5 lunar probe separated from the rocket and entered the Earth-Moon transfer orbit with the perigee at 200 km and the apogee at about 410,000 km.
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China’s Moon mission - the first since 1976 to bring lunar samples back to Earth
24 November 2020
As a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar spacecraft blasted off from Wenchang, Hainan this morning, “a long journey just begins,” said Pei Zhaoyu, Deputy Chief of the lunar programme at the China National Space Administration. “It is the Chinese space programme’s most complex mission ever,” Pei said on state television.
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